Thanks to the generosity of lovely sponsors, I have SIX fabulous prizes up for grabs.

If you haven't yet pinned all your 2017 makes to the dedicated #VintagePledge Pinterest board...get to it!!! To give you plenty of time, I'll be picking winners on Sunday 11 February and announcing them on Tuesday 13 February.

As I've said before, even though I'm not up to hosting this year, I'll still be sewing vintage so feel free to keep using the #VintagePledge hashtag on social media so we can stay in touch and continue to inspire each other!

Hi friends! We're halfway through January already and I'm still getting around to sharing all of my 2017 makes, one of which is this faux leather McCall's 7253 I made for Charlotte as one of her Christmas presents.

The pattern was a freebie with Sew Now magazine and a dead ringer for Charlotte's favourite faux leather RTW skirt. I knew it would be a big hit with her, especially when I found the perfect print from Fabric Godmother. Sadly, this gorgeous floral faux leather is all sold out, but Jodi has plenty of other beauties to chose from!

With just three pleated rectangles and a waistband, the pattern couldn't have come together easier and the sizing was spot on too.

I made a couple of changes, including installing an exposed zip for an edgy finish. It's really not my neatest zip ever, but I'm letting myself off as this was only my second time sewing with faux leather. The other change, inspired by Charlotte's RTW make, was to finish the waistband with bias binding and secure it by topstitching from the front. This RTW technique was perfect for reducing bulk and I'll definitely be using it again.

Tips for sewing with faux leather

Sewing with faux leather is nowhere near as tricky as you may think. Here are some tips I've picked up along the way:

A lot of faux leather can be pre-washed at 30 degrees Celsius, but test a small piece first

Happy New Year, friends! I'm kicking off my 2018 blogging with a heartfelt apology to my #VintagePledge family, as I've totally let you down. Sure, 2017 started well and we even had a fun #VPJuly fortnight with daily photo prompts and generous sponsors. But since planning and starting comprehensive building work at home in the autumn, my mental and physical capacity to host the pledge fell by the wayside.

The good news is that I've been busy organising belated end-of-year prizes and thanks to generous sponsors I can reveal them next week and announce winners in early February. So what are you waiting for? Get those half-finished #VintagePledge makes done and shared on the dedicated Pinterest board!

With our building work overrunning and life/work being as busy as ever, I've made the difficult decision to pause the #VintagePledge this year. I've absolutely loved running it for the past four years and it's my HUGE privilege to have had so many of you take part. But I don't feel I can give it my full attention and it's been a struggle keeping on top of it these last couple of years.

I'm so sorry, but I hope you understand!

Hopefully, once I've recharged my batteries it will make a return, but in the meantime, feel free to keep using the #VintagePledge hashtag on social media so we can stay in touch and continue to inspire each other with our vintage makes.

Finally, I wanted to round-up some of the gorgeous makes added to the Pinterest board during the last quarter of 2017.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg! There are countless beautiful dresses to list, fabulous knitwear, lovely bottoms and adorable kidswear. I encourage you to go have a look for yourself and can guarantee that it's a total treat.

While you're at it, why not check out previous contributions on Pinterest? Make a cuppa and immerse yourself in 2014, 2015 and 2016 too.

Thanks SO much for your unwavering dedication to #VintagePledge...keep stitching up a bygone storm!